Daily Devotional - 10/23

Prayer Focus - Enemies


Day 2
Pray for:
One person who was mean to you when you were a child
One person who has given you a lot of trouble recently


Pray about:
Their physical needs
Their mental needs
Their emotional needs
Their spiritual needs
Your ability to offer complete forgiveness from your heart
Your ability to let go of the hurts and move on whether they will ever apologize or not



Dear Lord - Please open my ears to hear and grant me the strength to obey.



Psalms 53



"Will evildoers never learn - those who devour my people as bread and who do not call on God? There they were overwhelmed with dread, where there was nothing to dread." ( vs 4-5a)


This psalm outlines two ways that we can become evildoers and the consequences of these actions or any sinful behavior on our part really. The first qualification for being an evildoers is being someone who uses others. We eat bread. We use it to stay alive, so someone who is devouring people in this way must be using them to get what they need. I know in the past I have used people. I am not proud of this but I think it is probably more widespread than we would like to admit. How often do we just call someone when we need something from them. Isn't that a form of using them. We are not thinking of them and how they are doing, just what we need. How about in our conversations? Are they all about us and what we are going through? Do we use others as a dumping ground and then after we feel better, leave? Isn't that using others. I am sure that we could come up with more as well; times when we are using those around us in some manner. This can even go as far as our involvement in church, our work, and our country. Are we focused on what we are getting out of the service or small group rather than what we are giving? At our work, are we known to be someone who gets involved and gives their best or are we just getting a paycheck. How about in our country? Are we just taking the benefits and not being willing to get involved and change it for the better or fight for some cause we believe in. We need to stop being takers and users and start being givers. I know I do. We are by nature selfish. Thank God that He has overcome our sinful natures and can transform us.

The second qualification for becoming an evildoers is to not call on God. That is more frightening to me. It is so easy to not pray and to not turn to God. Often, no one even knows. If we are being selfish, someone usually is affected by it and we tend to feel worse about this so we try and curb it. Not calling on God is all within us and we can cover it up for quite awhile. Eventually it will come out in a number of ways such as the dread mentioned in the next verse. When we are stressed out and feeling a nameless sense of dread about life, it would be a good idea for us to look at these two qualifications and see if we are wandering into the evil doer zone. I know I have felt dread often and sometimes there is no real reason for it. On deeper inspection, I usually find some sin, selfishness, or abandonment of God occurring. Once I turn back to God, start calling on Him, and drawing near to Him, the sense of dread disappears. Sin does make us feel guilty. Guilt and our consciences were put in us by God and help us to come back to Him. We need to stop searing them and accept that they are there and are there for a good reason. We will feel peace when we walk with God. He is a God of peace. He will do it.






Prayer for the Day



Dear Lord,


We do not want to be evildoers. As we look at the attitudes of our hearts and our actions, we pray that they will be those of a giver and not of a taker. We do not want to use people, even if it is advantageous to us. Help us to not think like the world does because to the world this is normal behavior. Help us to rise above and strive each and every day to be like Jesus. Although He was a part of You, He did not claim equality with You but made Himself nothing and became a servant to us all. He went the ultimate distance in dying for us and He calls us to do the same. Help us to rise to the challenge.

We also ask Your forgiveness for all of the times that we have not called on You. We get tired, weak, or lazy at times and neglect You, our ultimate power source. Help us to remember that it is all about You and not about us. We want to pray more. We want to commune with You and walk each day with You. Help us to not be so distracted. Our flesh is so weak. We are tired of walking around in dread. There is nothing to dread. There is no virus, no foreign government, no debt, not problem bigger than You. There is nothing to dread and here we are dreading. Forgive us and help us to turn away from this faithlessness and sin. You are here. You have always been here. Help us to see You in all that we do. You are surely woven into life. We pray for peace.


In Jesus' Name,
Amen


QFT


1. Have I used people in the past? Can I see any situations where I am using people presently? Why do I do this?


2. Am I a giver or a taker in my relationships? Am I a giver or taker in my church, work, and social environment? What can I do to become more of a giver?


3. Am I calling on God on a regular basis? How is my prayer life? Do I go to God first, or my friends? What can I do to improve my reliance on God?


4. Am I at peace or am I consistently in a state of dread? Do I have reason to dread? What am I fearing? Is God able to handle it? Is there something I need to clear up/ resolve or repent of to eliminate the sense of dread that I am experiencing? If not, how can I turn to God and trust Him more?